Bartlett wins Democratic nomination for House seat

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT), Fred Lucas THE NEWS-TIMES

Published
1:00 am EDT, Wednesday, May 24, 2006

DANBURY - A one-time Republican will run as a Democrat against a one-time Democrat turned Republican for a vacant seat in the state House of Representatives. Theirs could be the most competitive legislative fight in the Danbury area.

Former
Republican Jason Bartlett
, 40, of Bethel, accepted the Democratic nomination Tuesday night at Democratic headquarters on Main Street for the second state house district that covers parts of Bethel, Danbury and Redding.
Bartlett will face former

Hank Bielawa
, R-Redding.
Just last week, Bartlett - who lost to Bielawa by less than 100 votes in 2004 and lost by less than 500 votes in 2002 - said he would not run for the seat again, citing business commitments.
However, last weekend at the

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in Hartford, several people spoke with him about running. So he decided to get into the race.
"It was something difficult for me not to do," Bartlett said. "Everybody wanted me to do it. People from all three towns called me and encouraged me to run."
Bartlett is a last-minute choice for a party that was without a candidate late last week, when presumed Democratic nominee

Marcia Kendall
, a member of the
Democratic Town Committee
, dropped out.
As for Bartlett's party switch, that happened while he was in his mid-20s. He said that is because the national
Republican party
had moved too far to the right.
"A bunch of folks try to disparage my character for switching parties, but that was in my 20s when my political philosophy was still evolving," Bartlett said. "I know my principles and values and why I chose to run with the

Democrats
."
This is Bartlett's third try at the state legislature. He ran for state representative under the GOP banner when he was a senior at the
University of Connecticut
in 1988. He also served on the
Redding Republican Town Committee
.
For his part, Gallagher was a Democrat when he served six terms on the
Bethel Board of Selectmen
. He was also the Democratic candidate for Bethel first selectman in 2001 and lost to Republican Judy Novachek by a razor this margin.
In 2002, Gallagher recalls being on a winning slate to serve on the Bethel Democratic Town Committee, beating a slate that included Bartlett.
In 2004, he left the Democratic party.
"I was no longer in agreement with the party nationally and locally," Gallagher said. "I was unaffiliated for the first year and a half. Last summer, the Republicans asked me to run for the Board of Finance."
Gallagher has served on the

Bethel Board of Finance
since January. Bielawa asked him to run for the seat. He said he is now a registered Republican largely because he supports Gov.
M. Jodi Rell
.
"I think she is doing a good job, but we need to elect more Republicans to maintain the strength of her veto," Gallagher said.
Bielawa has praise for Gallagher.
"He's an excellent candidate, he's a wonderful person. He is well liked and popular with a lot of experience dealing with municipal government," Bielawa said.
But Bielawa knows from experience that Bartlett will not be an easy candidate to beat.
"It should be a very interesting race," Bielawa said. "Both men are from Bethel. Whoever wins Bethel will probably win the contest."
Joe DaSilva
, the chairman for the Danbury Democratic Town Committee, said he believes Bartlett is very strong and most voters also believe so.
"We were all backing him," DaSilva said. "He was hesitant, but he is going to do it and everybody is excited about that."
Also on Tuesday, the Democrats nominated
Bernard Gallo
, a former Danbury common council member and former Democratic town chairman, to run against Rep.
Janice Giegler
, R-Danbury.
In other House races already set, Rep.
Robert Godfrey
, D-Danbury, will face Danbury Common Council member
Pauline Basso
and Democrat Jay Tabbersack will run against Republican Common Council member
Greg Seabury
for the House seat being vacated by state Rep.
Lewis Wallace
, D-Danbury.